Those Who Survived and Those That Did Not
by rylek196
Summary: The tales of two warriors, and how they were each destroyed by the one they loved- the Hero by a dark Princess, the Mountainslayer by a cursed maiden. Semi-crossover with Shadow of the Colossus, exploring the similarities between Link and Wander.


**A/N: Well, funny story about how this came to be. I was revising a chapter for my Shadow of the Colossus story (like, y'know, I'm SUPPOSED to be doing) but then a plot bunny put a gun to my head and demanded I write this first. By the way, this is dedicated to Yami no Nokutan and Catsrawesome, for being such wonderful friends.**

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**Those Who Survived and Those That Did Not**

By: Rylek196

There were two warriors once, each literally worlds apart, but a single step away, as well.

One fought for a noble cause: saving an entire planet from a creeping darkness, while the other simply fought to bring back a lost love. However, that single, overcomplicated four-letter word, love, was what made them almost exactly the same.

The noble warrior, the Hero of Twilight, crusaded across his land, bringing down left and right the foul monsters that plagued the land with skill and a sword forged for righteousness, while the other, the Mountainslayer, rode across empty acres that no man had set foot in for millenia, killing what were, in essence, innocent giants for a selfish cause: love.

Both were almost completely alone in their respective quests, though each had a companion. The Mountainslayer, Wander, had his stolen horse, Agro, the Hero of Twilight, Link, having the princess of a pocket dimension known as the Twilight Realm by his side. The princess, named Midna, was also a thief in the end, stealing the Hero's heart. Through their trials and tribulations, he fell head-over-heels for her, more-so when he saw her beautiful true form.

In much the same way, yet differently, Wander had fallen for a woman, but not during his quest, rather, before it. Her name was Mono, and the second he had laid eyes on her, it had been love at first sight. Their happy relationship continued for three years, as they were each fourteen at the time they first met.

As Link went on his quest to rid the planet of Hyrule from the Twilight, controlled by a mad usurper king, disaster struck for Wander and Mono. Their village's society was almost fanatically religious and superstitious, with one of the village's leaders, a shaman called Lord Emon, being a progenitor of such actions. People lived and literally died by the visions from the gods he claimed to have, and in his most recent one, he saw that Mono would bear 'children of the devil' should she have offspring. Though Wander vehemently denied it, doing his best to defend Mono, in the end she was sacrificed before his horrified eyes. "It is for the good of the village," Emon had told him. But for Wander, losing his love was too much. Something in him died that day along with Mono, the desire to bring her back overriding all else.

Meanwhile, Link continued to clear the land of evil, narrowly escaping death many times. The duo of Twilight Princess and Hero thought themselves invincible. The usurper king would soon prove them very wrong. As soon as they recovered the final piece of a magical artifact, the Fused Shadows, needed to defeat the usurper king, he attacked. He threw aside Link with ease, and severely wounded Midna by exposing her to light, knowing the species they both belonged to, the Twili, could not survive without being in the shadows for more than a few minutes. He cursed Link to his wolf form, perhaps permanently. Had they not been saved by the very thing that had almost killed Midna, a Light Spirit, their quest would have ended then and there.

To save his dying companion, Link was forced to run through a rainstorm to get to the one person who had a chance of saving Midna: the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda. Link was elated beyond words when Zelda managed to save Midna; almost not caring that Zelda had to give up her life force to do it. Even though Midna had been reduced to an ugly imp by the usurper king, he was falling for her, he realized. He really was.

Back in Wander's village, he had, through extensive research in forbidden texts, found a way to bring Mono back. It was a longshot, he knew, and if he was caught, he would certainly be executed, but a man in love is not a rational one, so he went through with it.

In the dead of night, he had stolen both Mono's corpse, and a sacred artifact to his people: the Ancient Sword. This blade was forged with one purpose: the tracking and destruction of magic. If the sword so as touched a magical object, spell, or being, it would destroy it. In addition, when held up to direct sunlight, a beam of light would be reflected off the blade, guiding the wielder to the magical thing in question.

With all he needed, including a steed, Wander vanished from his village, heading southeast to the Forbidden Lands, a place whispered of in legends as a place of death, and fear. To his surprise, though, the land was a cornucopia of natural beauty, nothing like what was said. In the massive structure located in the centre of the Forbidden Lands, the Shrine of Worship, he had met Dormin, the spirit that the text had told could bring back the dead.

"Please," Wander had begged him, gesturing to Mono's body, "I need you to bring back her soul." Dormin had only seemed to laugh at this, replying in his guttural voice, **"Souls that are lost cannot be reclaimed... Is that not the law of mortals?" **Sensing Wander's depression at having come all this way for nothing, he added, **"With that sword you carry, however... it may not be impossible." **"Really!?" Wander exclaimed. "What do I have to do?" Dormin went on to explain that in order to bring back Mono, Wander would have to destroy the sixteen giant statues that lined the Shrine's main hall in two rows of eight. It was not as simple as it sounded, however. In order for the statues to fall, the creatures that represented them- towering beasts called Colossi-would have to be killed.

With his goal clear, Wander held the Ancient Sword up to the sun, the light beam pointing in the direction of the first Colossus. And so what would become a genocide began.

Link continued his quest, with Midna revealing a bit of who she was to Link after he had saved her. "Even so," she had tentatively asked him, placing her hand on his cheek, "You'll still help me... won't you?" "Of course I will, Midna," he replied, "We've been through _way _too much for me to even consider that. Besides, we're in the middle of the desert right now, where could I go even if I wanted to? Like it or not, we're stuck together." "Thank you, Link," she whispered back, diving into his shadow once more.

The trek through the aforementioned desert pushed Link to his limits, to say nothing of the hellish dungeon known as the Arbiter's Grounds that followed. Finally, though, he made it out alive, triumphing over the various traps and monsters inside, to get to his objective: the Mirror of Twilight, the only portal to Midna's home world that existed. When he got there, however, all he and Midna found was an empty frame; the Mirror itself broken by the usurper king.

In the Forbidden Lands, Wander had already slain three of the Colossi. The battles were gruelling, and being covered in the black blood of a Colossus every time he stabbed one of their weakpoint Sigils was a less-than-pleasant experience, but it was worth it to bring back Mono. _Anything_ was worth it to bring back Mono.

"Link... you saw how nasty that monster was, right?" Midna said, grabbing the second Mirror Shard out of the corpse of Link's latest opponent- a spider that, while giant, was nowhere near the size of the things Wander was facing. "The evil within these shards is more powerful than you can imagine...," she continued. "We could be assembling something here that we'll ultimately have to destroy..."

Link remained silent, which was uncharacteristic for the usually chatty swordsman. Midna's words left an uncomfortable feeling in his gut, and he wordlessly stepped into the teleport she created to take him out of the dungeon.

Wander kept going, slaying Colossus after Colossus, but couldn't help but feel something was... _off_ about himself. Each time he went to a certain lake near the Shrine of Worship to refill his water supply, he noticed his clothing was getting darker, stained black from all the blood he was constantly getting covered in. The elaborately woven tabard he wore over his tan tunic was quickly starting to rip at the bottom edges, his hair, which had been a cherry red, had turned black; his already pale skin turning a deathly shade of white. Even so, he did not stop, after all, only two more Colossi remained.

At last, the Mirror had been repaired, sitting proudly in its frame. The only things left to do were defeat the usurper king, Zant, and storm Hyrule Castle to kill his false god, the puppetmaster behind the Twilight attacking Hyrule from the start, Ganon.

At last, the fifteenth Colossus had been felled, its statue crumbling into dust. The only thing left to do was defeat the last Colossus. "**Finally, the last Colossus..."** Dormin informed Wander. **"The ritual is nearly over... Thy wish is nearly granted... But someone now stands to get in thy way..." **Wander's eyes widened in horror at those words. Calling for Agro, he rode out of the Shrine, heading south, to the location of the last Colossus.

"_MIDNA!" _Link screamed as Hyrule Castle was engulfed in a massive explosion. In a last-ditch effort to keep him and Zelda safe, Midna had teleported them away from the Castle onto Hyrule Field. Using the power of the Fused Shadows, she had faced off against Ganon. Link dropped to his knees, overwhelmed. The only solace he could draw from this was that she had taken the tyrant down with her... but that cold comfort was soon crushed as Ganon rode out of the dust cloud on his demonic steed.

Gripping the hilt of the Master Sword tightly, Link prepared for his final battle. He swore that Midna's sacrifice would not be in vain.

"_AGRO!" _Wander yelled as his only companion throughout his quest plunged off the edge of the cliff, pieces of the crumbling bridge around her. Stupid... he was stupid, thinking the bridge wouldn't collapse. Stupid for thinking that bringing Mono back was worth any collateral damage. He slammed his fist down on the stone, tears springing to his eyes. He stayed that way for a while, just letting everything out. Eventually, he stood up. Gripping the hilt of the Ancient Sword tightly, Wander prepared for his final battle. He swore that Agro's sacrifice would not be in vain.

With a final stab into the Evil King's chest, it was over. The battle had been won. To Link, however, that didn't matter, not without Midna. As the magical barrier that marked the location of his duel with Ganon faded, he looked north. To his surprise, the four Light Spirits were gathered on a nearby hill. As they faded, he could make out the silhouette of a familiar imp. His heart pounding in his chest-_could it be?-_he raced up the hill, heedless of his injuries. When he got to the top, though, what greeted him was not the imp he had grown to love, but rather the form of a tall, beautiful Twili woman, fitting the role of princess he now knew she was. "What?" She smirked as she turned around. "Say something! Am I so beautiful... that you've no words left?" Link only ran to embrace her.

With a final stab to the head of the last Colossus, it was over. Wander had successfully killed all sixteen Colossi. His one-man genocide was done. But he felt no satisfaction. Not even the thought of Mono soon being in his arms, alive, brought comfort. As the black shroud covered the beast's corpse, like all the others of its kind, he slumped to his knees, exhaustion overtaking him, and he fell unconscious.

With the heat of the desert beating down on them, Midna, Zelda, and Link returned to the Mirror Chamber in the Arbiter's Grounds. It was a somewhat sad occasion for Link. It was time to say goodbye-at least temporarily-to Midna, seeing her off back to her realm. He had stayed silent while Zelda and Midna talked, thinking about what he wanted to say to Midna. Three words in particular came to his mind, but despite bearing the Triforce of Courage, he couldn't bring himself to say them. "I guess this is farewell, huh?" Midna said, "Light and shadow can't mix, as we all know. But never forget that there's another world bound to this one." She turned to address Link. "Thank you, Link. Thank you for everything you've done for me and both these kingdoms. I'll miss you." _Say it, you idiot, _Link chastised himself. _Why the hell am I not saying it? It's just three words, why is that so hard? She practically knows it already, why not just make it official?_

Finally, after what felt an eternity of internal debate, as Midna began to walk away towards the Mirror, he spoke up. "Midna, wait. Please don't go, at least not yet. I... I love you. Stay here, at least for a little while longer. Your people can survive a few more weeks without you... right?" Midna seemed taken aback by his confession, but then a single tear began to form in her left eye. "Link... I... I..." Link's heart raced. Was she truly going to say it? Did she actually feel the same way? Midna moved to seemingly wipe the tear away, but instead of doing that, she held it on her fingertip, and with a subtle flick of her wrist, sent the magic tear floating toward the Mirror. She sighed, more tears- real ones- appearing in her eyes as she said simply, "...See you later..."

Link swore his heart stopped in that instant. Hearing the cracking of glass behind him, he turned around. Midna's magic tear had hit the Mirror, fracturing its surface. The artifact creaked and groaned as if it would shatter at any moment. He turned back to see Midna running up the transparent steps to the portal to her world. In shock, and in a move that would damn not only him, but all of Hyrule, he stayed put, mouth agape. Midna's body disappeared into the portal, the Mirror shattering into dust afterwards. Zelda said nothing, only putting her hand on his shoulder and walking away. Tears began to form in Link's eyes as he dropped to his knees.

The Hero's anguished sobs for a lost love echoed into the sky.

"I don't believe this... so it was you after all!" Emon yelled at the now-possessed husk that Wander had become. Dormin had been playing Wander like a violin from the start. As Wander killed the Colossi, the being had slowly begun to take over his mind, culminating in this moment. The discouloration of Wander's hair and skin were by-products of the possession. Emon addressed the soldiers he had brought as bodyguards to the Forbidden Lands to stop Wander. "Eradicate the source of the evil. It is better to put him out of his misery than to exist, cursed as he is." One of the crossbow-wielding soldiers fired a bolt into Wander's thigh, another impaling him through the chest with his sword to finish him off. Propelled by sheer anguished adrenaline, Wander managed to get to his feet and pull the blade from his chest before succumbing to the wound.

Seconds later, Dormin had revealed his true form, that of a shadow Colossus, freed after untold centuries of imprisonment in the Shrine of Worship. In spite of Dormin's imposing form, he could do nothing to Emon or any of his guards, and was soon sealed away using the Ancient Sword, the very weapon that had led to him being freed in the first place.

Still a part of Dormin, though, Wander was sealed with him.

The thought of what could have been with Midna drove Link to madness eventually. The worst part was was that he could tell no one about Midna. Her race had attacked Hyrule- what would people think if he told them he not only adventured with a Twili, but fell in love with her too? For her part, Midna was in the exact same position. Nightmares taunted them both each time they closed their eyes to sleep, tormenting them with images of a love that never was, but could have been. Eventually, inevitably, they took the only escape from pain they could think of- and took their own lives. Link ended his on the blade of the Master Sword; Midna throwing herself out of a high window in her palace. While death and sadness ruled both Hyrule and the Twilight Realm with an iron grip, a scene of rebirth was taking place in the Forbidden Lands.

Feeling sunlight and a cool breeze on her skin, Mono's eyes fluttered open. Dormin _had _fulfilled his end of the bargain to Wander in the end, even though he had betrayed him. Hearing what sounded like hoofbeats to her right, she turned to see a horse limp up the steps into the Shrine. Agro had survived, though she paid for her survival with a severely sprained back leg. Mono and Agro made their way slowly down the Shrine's main hall, past the alcoves which once held the Colossi statues, now holding nothing but dust. Reaching the back of the Shrine, which was a circular room that held a shallow pool of water, they heard, of all things, the whimpers of an infant.

When Dormin and Wander were sealed away, they had been pulled into that very water pool. Now the water was gone, and in the centre of the empty pool, was a baby, one with two small horns poking out of the sides of its head. Mono picked up the baby, following Agro up the spiralling ramp along the room's walls out of the Shrine.

Getting to the top of the ramp, the duo noticed that the grand, miles-long bridge, the sole way in or out of the Lands, had been destroyed, collapsed by Lord Emon's sealing of Dormin. Mono could barely hold back her tears of frustration at the sight- how was she ever going to escape the Forbidden Lands now? Agro simply snorted, walking up a slope to the right. The path led to a beautiful garden, filled with wildlife such as birds and even a few deer. Mono sat, the infant Wander still in her arms, in the middle of the garden, Agro moving to stand beside her. They had survived, and would continue to survive, in these sealed lands. The Colossi may have been killed, Dormin may have been sealed away forever, and there may be no way out of the Lands- but they would survive.

Illia sniffled as she placed fresh flowers on a small memorial she had erected for Link outside his home. She gave a futile prayer that they would survive, but she knew that, like Hyrule itself, they would wither and die. Without a Hero, Hyrule would be helpless against whatever evil fate would throw at them next, and inevitably they would die. There was no one else to turn to for help; Hyrule itself _was_ the planet after all, who could hear their cry? Though Link and his bloodline was dead, they had survived. She knew that one day, a new evil _would _come, and with no Hero to defend it, Hyrule would fall for the last time- but that was a day for the future. This was today, and life still flourished.


End file.
